A friend and I always meet up somewhere for a long weekend of riding road bikes and drinking beer. Due to a recent move, our usual meet up of either Asheville or Boone isn’t as convenient for him. I am in the Raleigh, NC area, my friend now lives outside of Chicago. Looking for a good place somewhat in between both places.
The Knoxville TN to Lexington KY area looks best based on an initial search. Some sort of elevation gain is desired. It looks like there is some sustained climbing close to Knoxville, but I have heard Lexington has some scenic riding with all the horse farms outside of town.
There’s a ride, I think it may be this weekend, called the Cherohala Challenge. Just south of Knoxville. Not saying you guys should, or can, go this weekend but it’s a great route to look up. The actual century ride is 115 miles long with 10,000 ft of climbing. The major climbing is on the Cherohala Skyway which a lot of motorcyclist like to ride because of all the curves. It is an awesome climb and descent.
I’m looking at moving to Lex so I have done some research, but I have never ridden there. It looks like the Red River Gorge would be good but that’s outside of Lex. Something closer to Knoxville would be something around cades cove. I always thought biking around there would be really pretty.
There is some great riding around Lexington. If you want routes with rolling hills through horse country, I would check out the Horsey Hundred web site. It has the routes posted for their rides (2 days over Memoral Day weekend). You could check into riding on Foothills Parkway if you are looking for a Knoxville option.
I’ve effectively stopped cycling since I moved to Lexington, so I can’t vouch for any of these routes personally. That said, I’ve heard good things about the riding near London, KY: